Wearable device for generating image signal, and system for controlling same

ABSTRACT

An wearable device and a system for controlling the same are provided. The wearable device is connected to a user biometric state measurement device to capture an image of a certain place or situation, and the system remotely controls the wearable device and the user biometric state measurement device in real time.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a wearable device for generating animage signal, and a system for controlling the same, and moreparticularly, to a wearable device connected to a user biometric statemeasurement device to capture an image of a certain place or situation,and a system for remotely controlling the wearable device and the userbiometric state measurement device in real time.

BACKGROUND ART

Recently, wearable devices have emerged. Wearable devices have generallyappeared in the form of glasses connected to smartphones or as bandsworn on the wrist and, in recent years, have also been able to operateindependently of smartphones.

Further, as the wearable device-related technology has been developed,wearable devices may be implemented to have other shapes, such as ahelmet worn on the head, in addition to glasses or a band worn on thewrist.

Meanwhile, when an accident such as a fire or an injury in a remote areaoccurs, in the case of an affected person waiting for rescue or arescuer about to enter the scene of the accident to aid the affectedperson, accurate judgment regarding the current status of the eventhaving caused the accident or risks which will be faced by rescuers, aswell as the current status of the affected person, may be required toprevent further damage from occurring and to allow the affected personto be safely rescued.

For example, when a fire has occurred in the middle stories of abuilding consisting of a plurality of stories, in order for a personremoved from the scene of the fire by a certain distance to save anotherperson in danger in the fire scene, the person needs to judge asituation at the scene of the fire accurately to determine a safe, quickrescue method, and may determine the current state of the person at thescene of the fire accurately to determine a precise rescue time.

In general, a person distant from an endangered person may use cellphones or radios to receive information on the surroundings or physicalcondition of the endangered person. However, these methods are difficultto use in the case that urgent rescue is required in the above-mentionedfire or injury situation, as well as in the case that it is impossibleto perform remote communications or perform communications in real time,or if it is only possible to transmit information regarding thesituation with audio or visual data. Thus, it may be difficult toaccurately send information on the surroundings or physical condition ofan endangered person to others over a long distance.

As a concrete example of such a situation, accidents occurred because,when rescuers entered the World Trade Tower in the September 11terrorist attacks and rescued people in the accident situation, accurateinformation regarding the situation at the site and the current statusof endangered persons was not sent to a rescue center, such that therescuers, as well as people at the site of the accident, were in danger,or died.

As described above, events and accidents continue to occur around us. Inaddition, even though information regarding the physical condition orsurroundings of endangered persons needs to be frequently sent to othersin a remote location, a technology for a person distant from anendangered person to accurately determine the situation in thesurroundings or physical condition of endangered persons does not exist.

Thus, as a method for solving such a problem, a need exists for a meansfor enabling a person in a predetermined environment to accuratelytransmit his or her situation or physical condition to a person at adistant location using images. On the other hand, there is a demand fora means for enabling a person at a distant location to free a specificperson from a predetermined environment or to accurately confirminformation on the surroundings or physical condition of the specificperson in order to aid the specific person.

DISCLOSURE Technical Problem

An aspect of the present disclosure may provide a biometric statemeasurement device which may accurately measure the current state of auser by detecting a user biometric signal to solve the above-mentionedproblem.

Another aspect of the present disclosure may provide a wearable devicewhich may capture an image and perform wireless communications, based ona user biometric signal measured by a biometric state measurementdevice, to solve the above-mentioned problem.

Another aspect of the present disclosure may provide a system which maymonitor a user in a remote location in real time by collectivelycontrolling the wearable device and the biometric state measurementdevice to solve the above-mentioned problem.

Another aspect of the present disclosure may provide a system which maydetect a specific individual's biometric signal using the biometricstate measurement device, may capture an image of the specificindividual's surroundings, based on the measured biometric signal, andmay transmit the measured biometric signal and the captured image to aperson in a remote location, to solve the above-mentioned problem byallowing monitoring of the specific individual by the person in theremote location.

Technical tasks obtainable from the present disclosure may be notlimited to the above-mentioned technical tasks. Other unmentionedtechnical tasks can be clearly understood from the following descriptionby those of ordinary skill in the technical field to which the presentdisclosure pertains.

Technical Solution

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a wearable devicegenerating a user surroundings image signal in a wireless communicationssystem may include: a frame unit worn on the body of a user; an imagepick-up unit capturing a user surroundings image; a battery unitsupplying power to the wearable device; a Long-Term Evolution (LTE)communications module embedded in the wearable device, and directlyconnected to at least one external device to transmit and receive acommunications signal; a voice signal input/output unit receiving avoice signal to be transmitted to the at least one external device fromthe user, or outputting a voice signal received from the at least oneexternal device to the user; and a control unit controlling the imagepick-up unit such that the image pick-up unit may capture the usersurroundings image in response to a first command received from abiometric state measurement device, the control unit generating a usersurroundings image signal including the captured user surroundings imageand transmitting the generated user surroundings image signal to the atleast one external device through the LTE communications module. When avalue, represented by user biometric signal information measured by thebiometric state measurement device, differs from a predeterminedreference value by an amount equal to the predetermined value or more,the first command may be transmitted from the biometric statemeasurement device.

The frame unit may be a helmet wearable on the head of the user.

The biometric state measurement device may be worn on the body of theuser wearing the helmet to measure at least one type of biometric signalinformation among user heart rate, user body temperature, user skincondition, user body oxygen amount, user surroundings nitrogen amount,user surroundings carbon monoxide amount, and user surroundingsultraviolet light change.

The transmitting of a signal to the at least one external device mayinclude directly transmitting a signal to the at least one externaldevice through the LTE communications module, or transmitting a signalto the at least one external device through a relay station within apredetermined radius of the user.

The first command may include the user biometric signal informationmeasured by the biometric state measurement device, and when the value,represented by the measured user biometric signal information, differsfrom the predetermined reference value by an amount equal to thepredetermined value or more, the first command may be transmitted fromthe biometric state measurement device to the wearable device and the atleast one external device, respectively.

The first command may include the user biometric signal informationmeasured by the biometric state measurement device, and the firstcommand may receive existing biometric signal result information of theuser from the at least one external device, may compare a value,represented by the received existing biometric signal result informationof the user, with the value, represented by the measured user biometricsignal information, and when the value, represented by the measured userbiometric signal information, differs from the value, represented by thereceived existing biometric signal result information, by an amountequal to the predetermined value or more, may be transmitted from thebiometric state measurement device to the wearable device and the atleast one external device, respectively.

The battery unit may include any one of a lithium-ion battery, alithium-ion polymer battery, or a lithium iron phosphate (LiFePo4)battery.

The wearable device generating a user surroundings image signal in awireless communications system may further include a positionmeasurement unit performing position measurement using globalpositioning system (GPS) or Bluetooth® low energy (BLE). The controlunit may control the position measurement unit such that the positionmeasurement unit may measure a position of the user so as to generateuser position measurement information.

The wearable device generating a user surroundings image signal in awireless communications system may further include a memory unit storingthe generated user surroundings image signal and the generated userposition measurement information. The control unit may control storingthe user surroundings image signal and the user position measurementinformation in the memory unit, or transmitting the user surroundingsimage signal and the user position measurement information to the atleast one external device.

The wearable device generating a user surroundings image signal in awireless communications system may further include a user input unitenabling the user to enter a control command. The control unit maycontrol, in response to a second command entered through the user inputunit, at least one of capturing a user surroundings image by the imagepick-up unit, measuring a position of the user by the positionmeasurement unit, storing the user surroundings image signal and theuser position measurement information in the memory unit, andtransmitting the user surroundings image signal and the user positionmeasurement information to the at least one external device.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a device for measuringa user biometric signal in a wireless communications system may include:a frame unit worn on the body of a user; a biometric signal measurementunit sensing a user biometric signal an LTE communications moduleembedded in the device, and directly connected to at least one externaldevice to transmit and receive a communications signal; and a controlunit determining a user biometric state by determining whether a value,represented by the sensed user biometric signal, differs from apredetermined reference value by an amount equal to the predeterminedvalue or more. When a biometric state result is determined as the value,represented by the sensed user biometric signal, differing from thepredetermined reference value by an amount equal to the predeterminedvalue or more, the control unit may control generating an alarm signalincluding the sensed user biometric signal and transmitting thegenerated alarm signal to a remote monitoring server through the LTEcommunications module, and the control unit may transmits the generatedalarm signal to an image signal generation device. The alarm signal,transmitted to the image signal generation device, may further includeimage capturing instruction information for instructing the image signalgeneration device to capture a user surroundings image.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a system for remotelymonitoring a physical condition using a wireless communications networkmay include: an image signal generation device; a biometric signalmeasurement device; and a remote monitoring server. When as a sensingresult of a user biometric signal, a biometric state result isdetermined as a value, represented by the sensed user biometric signal,differing from a predetermined reference value by an amount equal to thepredetermined value or more, the biometric signal measurement device maygenerate an alarm signal including the sensed user biometric signal andmay transmit the generated alarm signal to the remote monitoring serverand the image signal generation device through an LTE communicationsmodule included in the biometric signal measurement device. The alarmsignal, transmitted to the image signal generation device, may furtherinclude image capturing instruction information for instructing theimage signal generation device to capture a user surroundings image. Theremote monitoring server may be directly connected to the LTEcommunications module included in the biometric signal measurementdevice to receive the alarm signal including the user biometric signal,may be directly connected to an LTE communications module included inthe image signal generation device to receive an image signal includingan image captured by the image signal generation device, and may performat least one of outputting the received captured image through a displayunit or storing the received captured image in a memory.

The remote monitoring server maybe any one of a personal computer (PC)or a user equipment (UE).

The remote monitoring server may transmit, to the image signalgeneration device, an image quality control message for instructing theimage signal generation device to capture an image having image qualityof a predetermined standard or higher, and in response to the imagequality control message, may receive, from the image signal generationdevice, a captured image having the image quality of the predeterminedstandard or higher.

The remote monitoring server may remotely connect to the biometricsignal measurement device and the image signal generation device throughthe wireless communications network to control operations of thebiometric signal measurement device and the image signal generationdevice.

The remote monitoring server may divide and store, by users, thebiometric signal, received from the biometric signal measurement device,and the captured image, received from the image signal generationdevice, and may output the divided and stored biometric signal andcaptured image through a display according to previous division methods.

The biometric signal measurement device and the image signal generationdevice may be wearable devices able to measure a position of a userusing a camera, GPS, and BLE, and the biometric signal measurementdevice and the image signal generation device may transmit the measureduser position information to the remote monitoring server, and mayreceive, from the remote monitoring server, information on a route alongwhich the user is required to move, based on the measured user positioninformation.

When receiving the image quality control message for instructing theimage signal generation device to capture the image having the imagequality of the predetermined standard or higher, the image signalgeneration device may capture an image, based on the image qualitycontrol message.

When a sensor included in the biometric signal measurement deviceincludes a plurality of sensors, the system may compare a biometricsignal value, measured by at least one of the plurality of sensors, withthe predetermined reference value, so as to determine whether themeasured biometric signal value differs from the predetermined referencevalue by an amount equal to the predetermined value or more.

Advantageous Effects

According to an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure, variouseffects may be provided as follows.

First, an affected individual in a dangerous accident site or anindividual working at the site may accurately provide surroundingsinformation and the current state information of the affected individualto an individual located distantly from the accident site, thusproviding information regarding the situation at the accident site andthe condition of the affected individual.

Second, surroundings information and the current state information of aperson easily exposed to danger, such as a low-grade elementary schoolstudent or an elderly person, may be provided to protect the person morethoroughly.

Third, an individual in a remote location may control a wearable deviceworn by an affected individual, such that surroundings and informationregarding the current state of the affected individual may be providedto the individual in the remote location, thus increasing accessibilityto the affected individual with respect to the individual in the remotelocation.

It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that theeffects that could be achieved with the present disclosure are notlimited to what has been particularly described hereinabove and otheradvantages of the present disclosure will be more clearly understoodfrom the following detailed description.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the present disclosure and are incorporated in andconstitute part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of theinvention, and together with the description, serve to illustrate theprinciple of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a system remotely monitoring abiometric state measurement device and a wearable device generating animage signal to which an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosuremay be applied;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a wearable device to which an exemplaryembodiment in the present disclosure may be applied;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a wearable device generating an imagesignal according to an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a wearabledevice generating an image signal according to an exemplary embodimentin the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a process of connecting a cell phoneto a wearable device generating an image signal according to anexemplary embodiment in the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a biometric state measurementdevice according to an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a biometricstate measurement device according to an exemplary embodiment in thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method of remotely monitoring abiometric state measurement device and a wearable device generating animage signal according to an exemplary embodiment in the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a method of remotely monitoring abiometric state measurement device and a wearable device generating animage signal according to an exemplary embodiment in the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a method of remotely monitoring abiometric state measurement device and a wearable device generating animage signal according to another exemplary embodiment in the presentdisclosure; and

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a method of remotely monitoring abiometric state measurement device and a wearable device generating animage signal according to another exemplary embodiment in the presentdisclosure.

BEST MODE FOR INVENTION

Exemplary embodiments in the present disclosure will be describedhereinafter in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Thedetailed description, which will be given below with reference to theaccompanying drawings, is intended to explain exemplary embodiments inthe present disclosure, rather than to only illustrate embodiments thatcan be implemented according to the present disclosure.

Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will bethorough and complete and will fully convey the concept of the inventionto those of ordinary skill in the art, and the present disclosure willonly be defined by the appended claims.

In some cases, to prevent the concept of the exemplary embodiment frombeing ambiguous, structures and apparatuses of the known art will beomitted, or will be shown in the form of a block diagram based on mainfunctions of each structure and apparatus. The same reference numeralswill be used throughout to designate the same or like elements.

When it is said that a part “comprises” or “includes” a componentthrough the specification, this means that unless otherwise specified,the part may further include another component, not excluding anothercomponent.

In addition, the term “unit” signifies a unit of processing at least onefunction or operation. This may be implemented in hardware, software, orany combination thereof. Further, “a” or “an”, “one”, and their similarterms may include both singular and plural expressions, unless otherwisespecified or clearly indicated in the context of the exemplaryembodiments.

Specific terms used in the exemplary embodiments in the presentdisclosure are provided to assist in understanding the presentinvention, and all terms used herein including technical or scientificterms have the same meaning as those generally understood by those ofordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure pertains.Various modifications may be made in the specific terms within the rangethat they do not depart from technical spirits of the presentdisclosure.

Although terms such as “first” and/or “second” in this specification maybe used to describe various elements, it is to be understood that theelements are not limited by such terms. The terms may be used toidentify one element from another element. For example, a first elementmay be referred to as a second element, and vice versa within the rangethat does not depart from the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a system remotely monitoring abiometric state measurement device and a wearable device generating animage signal to which an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosuremay be applied.

Referring to FIG. 1, the system remotely monitoring the biometric statemeasurement device and the wearable device generating an image signal towhich the exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure maybe appliedmay include a wearable device 100 generating an image signal(hereinafter referred to as an “image signal generation device”), abiometric state measurement device 200, a server 300 (or a remotemonitoring device), and a network 400. FIG. 1 illustrates the systemincluding the image signal generation device 100, the biometric statemeasurement device 200, the server 300, and the network 400, for easy ofdescription. However, the system may also include at least one imagesignal generation device 100, at least one biometric state measurementdevice 200, at least one server 300, and/or at least one network 400.

In an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure, each of the imagesignal generation device 100 and the biometric state measurement device200 may be an Internet of Thing (IoT) device, an object sharinginformation through wired and wireless networks. Furthermore, the imagesignal generation device 100 and the biometric state measurement device200 may be implemented as a wearable device, wearable glasses, awearable band, a user equipment (UE), a terminal, a mobile station (MS),a mobile subscriber station (MSS), a subscriber station (SS), an advancemobile station (AMS), a wireless terminal (WT), a machine-typecommunication (MTC) device, a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, or adevice-to-device (D2D) device, or may be collectively referred to as“mobile devices”.

In addition, in an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure, theserver 300 may be a set of devices, directly communicating with theimage signal generation device 100 and the biometric state measurementdevice 200. According to an exemplary embodiment in the presentdisclosure, the server 300 may be implemented as a server, a personalcomputer (PC) or a UE, or the term “server” may be replaced with anotherterm. Furthermore, the server 300 may be collectively referred to as a“mobile or fixed device”, such as a desktop PC, a laptop PC, a tabletPC, a smartphone, a Wi-Fi phone, an Internet protocol (IP) phone, anaccess point (AP), a home gateway (HGW), a set-top box (STB), a PC, amobile phone, a cellular phone, a personal communication service (PCS)phone, a global system for mobile communications (GSM) phone, a widebandcode division multiple access (WCDMA) phone, a mobile broadband system(MBS) phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable multimediaplayer (PMP), or the like. Here, the term “mobile device” or “fixeddevice” may be replaced with the term “PC” or “UE”.

Of course, this is only an example, and the present invention may beinterpreted as including all devices enabling communications, currentlycommercialized or those which will be developed in the future, otherthan the above-mentioned example.

A communication means between the server 300, and the image signalgeneration device 100 and the biometric state measurement device 200 mayinclude both a short-range communications module, and a wirelesscommunications means using radio waves or infrared light, and allwireless communications means which may be developed in the future maybe used.

The network 400 may include a short- or long-range wirelesscommunications module, and may refer to a means that may transmit dataor a signal among the image signal generation device 100, the biometricstate measurement device 200, and the server 300.

For example, the short-range wireless communications module may refer toa module for short-range wireless communications among the image signalgeneration device 100, the biometric state measurement device 200, andthe server 300. Bluetooth®, radio frequency identification (RFID),infrared data association (IrDA), ultra-wide band (UWB), Zigbee®, or thelike may be used as a short-range wireless communications technology.

The long-range wireless communications module, that is, a wirelesscommunications means, maybe an IP network, providing a large datatransmission and reception service and a seamless data service throughan IP, or an all IP network, an IP network structure integratingdifferent networks, based on an IP network, and may include at least oneof a wired network, a wireless broadband (WiBro) network, a mobilecommunications network including a WCDMA network, a mobilecommunications network including a high speed downlink packet access(HSDPA) network and an LTE network, a mobile communications networkincluding an long-term evolution-advanced (LTE-A) network, a satellitecommunications network, and a Wi-Fi network.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a wearable device to which an exemplaryembodiment in the present disclosure may be applied.

Referring to FIG. 2, a wearable device 100 to which the exemplaryembodiment in the present disclosure may be applied may include a cameraunit 120, a voice input unit 113, a user input unit 112, 114, a sensingunit 130, an output device 300, a wireless communications unit 250 (acommunications module), a memory 260, an interface unit 270, a controlunit 210, a context evaluation module 230, a voice recognition unit 220,and a power supply unit.

The camera unit 120 maybe provided to input a video signal or an imagesignal, and two or more camera units 120 may also be provided, dependingon the configuration of the wearable device. The camera unit 120 mayprocess an image frame, such as a still image or a video, obtained by animage sensor in a video call mode or an image pick-up mode. Theprocessed image frame may be displayed on a display unit 310. Further,the image frame, processed by the camera unit 120, may be stored in thememory 260 or transmitted to an external device through the wirelesscommunications unit 250 (the communications module). Further, when theimage signal or the video signal is used as an input for informationprocessing, the camera unit 120 may transmit the image signal or thevideo signal to the control unit 210.

The voice input unit 113 may be provided to input a voice signal, andmay include a microphone or the like. The microphone may receive anexternal audio signal in a call mode, a recording mode, or a voicerecognition mode to process the external audio signal into electricalvoice data. The processed voice data may be converted into atransmissible format and may be output to a mobile communications basestation through a mobile communications unit in the call mode. Themicrophone may use various types of noise removal algorithms forremoving noise generated when receiving the external audio signal.

The user input unit 112, 114 may generate key input data that a userenters to control operations of the wearable device. The user input unit112, 114 may include a keypad, a keyboard, a dome switch, a capacitiveor resistive touchpad, a jog wheel, a jog switch, or a finger mouse. Inparticular, when the touchpad forms a layer structure together with thedisplay unit 310 to be described later, this may be referred to as a“touchscreen”.

The sensing unit 130 (a sensor) may sense the current state of thewearable device, such as an open and closed state of the wearabledevice, a location of the wearable device, or the presence or absence ofa contact by the user with the wearable device, to generate a sensingsignal for controlling operations of the wearable device. Further, thesensing unit 130 may function as an input unit, receiving an inputsignal for information processing performed by the wearable device, andmay perform various sensing functions, such as recognizing whether theexternal device connects to the wearable device.

The sensing unit 130 may include a gyro sensor 131, an accelerationsensor 132, a pressure sensor 133, an iris recognition sensor 134, aheart rate sensor 135, and an electromyogram (EMG) sensor 136, and mayalso include types of sensors currently developed or commercialized andsensors to be developed in the future, such as a skin temperaturesensor, a skin resistance sensor, an electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor, anultraviolet (UV) sensor, a body oxygen sensor, a motion sensor, afingerprint recognition sensor, a proximity sensor, a nitrogen sensor,and a carbon monoxide sensor.

The pressure sensor 133 may detect whether pressure is applied to thewearable device, the magnitude of the applied pressure, or the like. Thepressure sensor 133 maybe provided in a portion of the wearable devicein which pressure detection is required, depending on a serviceenvironment. When the pressure sensor 133 is installed in the displayunit 310, a touch input through the display unit 310 and a pressuretouch input at which pressure higher than that of the touch input isapplied to the display unit 310 may be identified according to a signaloutput from the pressure sensor 133. Further, according to the signaloutput from the pressure sensor 133, the magnitude of pressure appliedto the display unit 310 at the pressure touch input may be identified.

The motion sensor may include at least one of the gyro sensor 131, theacceleration sensor 132, and a geomagnetic sensor, and may sense alocation or movement of the wearable device using the at least onesensor. The acceleration sensor 132 usable in the motion sensor may be adevice, converting a change in acceleration in a direction thereof intoan electrical signal, and may be widely used with the development ofmicro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) technology. The accelerationsensor 132 may include a gravity sensor, identifying a change ingravitational acceleration. When used with a Bluetooth® v. 4.0 or higherBluetooth® low energy (BLE)-based beacon, such as v. 4.2, capable ofactive sensing, the acceleration sensor 132 may identify whether theuser passes a specific location and move on the specific location at amoving speed, thus measuring an accurate time in relation to the movingspeed. Further, the gyro sensor 131 may measure an angular speed, andmay sense a turning direction with respect to a reference direction.

The iris recognition sensor 134 may function to recognize a person usingiris information of eyeballs having characteristics inherent to eachperson. The human iris is completely formed in the 18 months afterbirth. Once formed, the round iris pattern protruding close to themedial side of the iris rarely changes, and also has a unique shape inevery person. Thus, iris recognition may be the application of differentiris characteristics computerized for each person to securityauthentication technology. That is, iris recognition is anauthentication method developed as a means of identifying a person byanalyzing the shape and color of iris, the morphology of retinalcapillaries, or the like, of the person.

The iris recognition sensor 134 may encode an iris pattern, convert aniris code into an image signal, and compare and determine the imagesignal. The general working principle is as follows. First, when theuser's eyes are focused on a mirror in the center of an iris recognizerat a predetermined distance, an infrared camera may be focused using azoom lens. Subsequently, an iris camera images the user's irises, aniris recognition algorithm may analyze a contrast pattern of the irisesby area to generate an iris code unique to an individual. Finally, acomparison and search process may be performed while registering theiris code in a database.

The heart rate sensor 135 may detect a change in photoplethysmogram(PPG), according to a change of a blood vessel thickness, caused by aheartbeat, in order to collect an emotional signal. Furthermore, theheart rate sensor 135 may measure a heart rate per unit time, a heartrate change. When measuring the heart rate per unit time, the heart ratesensor may also measure the heart rate in consideration of a state ofsurroundings and a state of an object to be measured.

The skin temperature sensor (a body temperature sensor) may include askin condition sensor, and may measure a skin temperature, according toa change in a resistance value, in response to a change in an ambienttemperature, as well as measure a body temperature. The skin temperaturesensor may also measure an abnormal rise or fall in the skintemperature, based on a predetermined value, for example, a normal skintemperature of 36.5° C. to 37.5° C. Further, the skin resistance sensormay measure electrical resistance from skin to be used for the skintemperature sensor to measure the skin temperature, according to thechange in the resistance value, in response to the change in the ambienttemperature.

The UV sensor may detect ultraviolet light, and when a fire hasoccurred, the UV sensor may detect the fire. For example, when smoke isgenerated by a fire to block light received by the UV sensor, the amountof UV light that may be detected by the UV sensor may be changed, andthus the UV sensor may measure the changed amount of UV light to sensewhether a fire has occurred.

Further, when smoke generated by a fire blocks light illuminated by theUV sensor to a particular place, the UV sensor may detect or determinewhether a fire has occurred and the size of the fire, according to anextent that the light is blocked, and may also calculate a saturation ofthe smoke per unit area, based on the size of the fire determinedthrough the UV light analysis or processing described above.

The body oxygen sensor may measure the amount of oxygen present in thehuman body, and may refer to a sensor that when the human body in anaverage condition has the amount of oxygen within a normal range,previously determines various conditions, for example, such as bodytemperature, ambient temperature, and heart rate, determines the amountof oxygen present in the human body in consideration of changes in thevarious conditions, and measures the determination result.

The proximity sensor may detect an approaching object, or the presenceor absence of an adjacent object, without mechanical contact therewith.The proximity sensor may detect the adjacent object using a change in analternating current (AC) magnetic field or in a static magnetic field,or using a change rate of capacitance. Two or more proximity sensors maybe provided according to configuration types.

The carbon monoxide sensor may measure the concentration of carbondioxide gas present in the adjacent air, and may use a method ofoptically measuring the concentration of carbon dioxide usingnon-dispersive infrared (NDIR) or a method of electrochemicallymeasuring the concentration of carbon dioxide using a solid electrolyte.

The nitrogen sensor may measure the concentration of a nitrogen oxidepresent in the adjacent air, such as nitrogen monoxide (NO), nitrogendioxide (NO₂), dinitrogen trioxide (N₂O₃) or nitrous oxide (N₂O), andmay use a method using equilibrium potential, a method using current, amethod using a conversion cell that converts nitrogen oxide gas intoother gas form, or a method using an oxygen-ion conductive solidelectrolyte and an electrical signal.

The output device 300 may output an audio signal, a video signal, or analarm signal. The output device 300 may include the display unit 310, anaudio output module, an alarm unit 330, and a haptic module 340.

The display unit 310 may display information processed by the wearabledevice. For example, when the wearable device is in the call mode, thedisplay unit 310 may display a user interface (UI) or a graphical userinterface (GUI). When the wearable device is in the video call mode orthe image pick-up mode, the display unit 310 may display captured andreceived images respectively or simultaneously, and may display the UIor GUI.

Meanwhile, as described above, when the display unit 310 and thetouchpad form the layer structure to make up a touchscreen, the displayunit 310 may also be used as an input device, other than an outputdevice. When the display unit 310 includes the touchscreen, examples ofthe touchscreen may include a touchscreen panel and a touchscreen panelcontroller.

In addition, the display unit 310 may include at least one of a liquidcrystal display, a thin film transistor-liquid crystal display, anorganic light-emitting diode, a flexible display, and a 3D display. Twoor more display units 310 may also be provided according to types of thewearable device. For example, the wearable device may include anexternal display unit 310 and an internal display unit 310simultaneously.

The display unit 310 may be implemented as a head-up display (HUD) or ahead-mounted display (HMD). The HMD is an image display device that theuser may wear on his or her head as glasses to enjoy a large-scaleimage. The HUD is an image display device that may project a virtualimage onto a clear panel within the user's field of view.

The audio output module 320 may output audio data, received from thewireless communications unit or stored in the memory 260, in a callreception mode, the call mode or the recording mode, the voicerecognition mode, and a broadcast reception mode. Further, the audiooutput module 320 may perform a function of the wearable device, forexample, outputting an audio signal associated with a call ringtone or amessage ringtone. The audio output module 320 may include a speaker or abuzzer.

The alarm unit 330 may output a signal for providing a notification ofan occurrence of an event by the wearable device. Examples of the event,generated by the wearable device, may include call signal reception,message reception, or key signal input. The alarm unit 330 may outputthe signal for providing a notification of an occurrence of an event informat different from an audio signal or a video signal. For example,the alarm unit 330 may include a vibration alarm unit to output a signalin a vibration manner. When a call signal or a message is received inthe wearable device, the alarm unit 330 may output a signal forproviding a notification of the received call signal or message.Further, when a key signal is input to the wearable device, the alarmunit 330 may output a signal as feedback on the input of the key signal.The signal, output by the alarm unit 330, may enable the user torecognize an occurrence of an event. The wearable device may also outputa signal for providing a notification of an occurrence of an eventthrough the display unit 310 or the audio output module.

The haptic module 340 may create various haptic effects that the usermay feel. Atypical example of the various haptic effects, created by thehaptic module 340, may include a vibration effect. When the hapticmodule 340 generates a vibration as a haptic effect, the haptic module340 may change the strength and pattern of the vibration, and may alsocombine and output different vibrations, or sequentially outputdifferent vibrations.

The wireless communications unit 250 may include a broadcast receptionmodule, a mobile communications module, a wireless Internet module, ashort-range communications module, or a GPS module.

The broadcast reception module may receive at least one of a broadcastsignal and broadcast-related information from an external broadcastmanagement server through a broadcast channel. Here, the broadcastchannel may include a satellite channel and a terrestrial channel. Theexternal broadcast management server may refer to a server generatingand transmitting at least one of a broadcast signal andbroadcast-related information, or a server receiving at least one of apreviously generated broadcast signal and broadcast-related informationand transmitting the received at least one of a previously generatedbroadcast signal and broadcast-related information to a terminal.

The broadcast-related information may refer to information related to abroadcast channel, a broadcast program, or a broadcast service provider.The broadcast-related information may also be provided through a mobilecommunications network. In this case, the broadcast-related informationmay be received by the mobile communications module. Thebroadcast-related information may exist in various forms.

The broadcast reception module may receive the broadcast signal usingvarious types of broadcast systems, and may receive a digital broadcastsignal using a digital broadcast system. Further, the broadcastreception module may be suitable to all broadcast systems that providethe broadcast signal, as well as to such a digital broadcast system. Thebroadcast signal and/or the broadcast-related information, received bythe broadcast reception module, may be stored in the memory 260.

The mobile communications module may transmit a wireless signal to, andreceive a wireless signal, from at least one of a base station, anexternal terminal, and a server on the mobile communications network.Here, the wireless signal may include a voice call signal, a video callsignal, or various types of data, according to a text or multimediamessaging service (MMS) message.

The wireless Internet module may refer to a module for access towireless Internet, and may be embedded in, or out of, the wearabledevice. Examples of a wireless Internet technology may include wirelesslocal area network (WLAN) (Wi-Fi), WiBro, worldwide interoperability formicrowave access (WiMAX), HSDPA, LTE, and LTE-A.

A short-range communications module 116 may refer to a module forshort-range communications, as mentioned above in FIG. 1. Examples of ashort-range communications technology may include Bluetooth®, RFID,IrDA, UWB, Zigbee®, and Z-wave.

In an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure, the beacon as awireless communications device may transmit a signal, having asignificantly low frequency, therearound, using a Bluetooth® v. 4.2BLE-based protocol. Bluetooth® v. 4.2 may enable the wearable device tocommunicate with devices within an about 100 m radius of the wearabledevice, and may consume less power to hardly affect the battery life tosignificantly reduce wastage of power, thus seamlessly being activated.

Further, Bluetooth® v. 4.2 may enable a Bluetooth® sensor or devices todirectly access the Internet with the development of Internet protocolsupport profile (IPSP). In addition, IPSP may enable an unlimitedInternet address system, IPv6, and IPv6 over low power wireless personalarea networks (6LoWPAN), a low-power wireless communications technology,to apply to Bluetooth®.

Moreover, Bluetooth® v. 4.2 may increase security through supporting of128-bit advanced encryption standard (AES) encryption, increase its datarate by 2.5 times or more through increasing of the packet capacitybetween devices, and further enhance power consumption efficiency.

Depending on the above-mentioned features, Bluetooth® v. 4.2 may enablea Bluetooth® sensor or device to directly access the Internet, so thatthe user may transmit Bluetooth® information to a cloud applicationwithout a smartphone application and may also view the Bluetooth®information on a web browser.

The GPS module 115 may receive position information from a plurality ofGPS satellites, and may measure the current position of the user usingthe received position information.

The memory 260, a storage unit, or a memory unit may store a program forprocessing and control of the control unit 210, and may also perform afunction of temporarily storing pieces of data (for example, a message,a still image, and a video) to be input or output.

The memory 260 may include at least one type of storage medium among aflash memory 260-type memory, a hard disk-type memory, a multimediacardmicro (MMCmicro)-type memory, a card-type memory (for example, a securedigital (SD) or xD-picture (XD) memory), and a random access memory(RAM). Further, the wearable device may also operate a web storage thatperforms a storage function of the memory 260 on the Internet.

The interface unit 270 may interface with all external devices connectedto the wearable device. Examples of the external devices, connected tothe wearable device, may include a wired/wireless headset, an externalcharger, a wired/wireless data port, a memory card, a card socket suchas a subscriber identification module (SIM) or a user identity module(UIM), an audio input/output (I/O) terminal, a video I/O terminal, andan earphone. The interface unit 270 may receive data or power from suchexternal devices, may transmit the received data or power to therespective components of the wearable device, and may allow data, storedin the wearable device, to be transmitted to the external devices.

The control unit 210 or an information processing module may function tocontrol the overall operation of the wearable device by commonlycontrolling operations of the respective components. For example, thecontrol unit 210 may perform control and processing related to a voicecall, data communications, or a video call. Further, the control unit210 may function to process data for multimedia playback. In addition,the control unit 210 may function to process data received from theinput unit or the sensing unit 130.

The context evaluation module 230 may function to determine a context inwhich the user uses the wearable device, based on criteria stored in thememory 260 or on those received from the user. That is, the contextevaluation module 230 may function to configure the wearable device orto determine a signal to be received by determining the context in whichthe user uses the wearable device, based on various criteria.

The voice recognition unit 220 may function to identify the contents ofsemantic meaning from voice by an automatic means. In detail, thisfunction may be a process of inputting a voice waveform, identifying aword or a word string therefrom, and extracting a meaning therefrom,which may largely be divided into five categories: voice analysis,phoneme recognition, word recognition, sentence interpretation, andsemantic extraction. The voice recognition unit 220 may further includea voice evaluation module that compares whether a stored voice is thesame as an input voice. In addition, the voice recognition unit 220 mayfurther include a voice-text conversion module 240 that converts aninput voice into text, or text into voice.

The power supply unit may receive power from an external or internalpower source under the control of the control unit 210, and may supplypower required for operations of the respective components.

Hereinafter, a wearable device for generating an image signal accordingto exemplary embodiments in the present disclosure, and a system forcontrolling the same will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a wearable device generating an imagesignal according to an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 3, an image signal generation device, according to anexemplary embodiment in the present disclosure, may be implemented as awearable device, having the concept of the IoT device mentioned above inFIG. 2, and accordingly, the image signal generation device may beimplemented to include the features of the respective components statedin the description of the wearable device of FIG. 2, even without anadditional explanation in FIG. 3.

The image signal generation device 100 may include a frame unit, animage pick-up unit, a battery unit, a wireless communications unit, anda control unit. According to an exemplary embodiment in the presentdisclosure, the image signal generation device may include or may notinclude components such as a voice signal output unit, a user inputunit, and a position measurement unit. In contrast, the image signalgeneration device may further include another component included in thewearable device mentioned above in FIG. 2.

Meanwhile, the respective components, included in the image signalgeneration device of FIG. 3, may perform the same functions as thecomponents included in the wearable device described above in FIG. 2. Inan exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure, the image signalgeneration device may be interpreted as further including a device thatmay capture a surroundings image, transmit the captured image to abiometric state measurement device and a server, and receive a responseto the transmitted captured image therefrom.

In an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure, the frame unit maybe a helmet wearable on the head of the user. As described above, whenthe frame unit of the wearable device is implemented in helmet form, auser surroundings image, captured by the image pick-up unit included inthe wearable device, may be captured from a location of the helmet.Thus, the user surroundings image may be captured from the same point ofview as that of the user wearing the helmet.

As a result, according to an exemplary embodiment in the presentdisclosure, an image, captured from the same point of view as that ofthe user wearing the helmet, may be generated and provided to the user.When an external device receives the captured image from the wearabledevice and displays the image, an observer of the external device mayobserve surroundings of the user from the same point of view as thewearable device's user, even in a remote location. Further, the head ofthe user, on which the wearable device is worn, may shake relativelyless, and when worn on the head of the user, the wearable device maycapture an image in a consistent direction, compared to when worn on thewrist, the arms, the body, or the legs of the user. According to anexemplary embodiment in the present disclosure, when the frame unit ofthe image signal generation device is implemented as the helmet wearableon the head of the user, a captured image may be prevented from beingwasted due to a frequent movement of the head.

Meanwhile, according to an exemplary embodiment in the presentdisclosure, the image signal generation device may receive an alarmsignal from the biometric state measurement device. Here, the alarmsignal may refer to a signal transmitted in the case that, when a value,represented by a biometric signal of the biometric state measurementdevice's user, is compared with a value, represented by an existingbiometric state result received from the external device, or with apredetermined reference value, the values differ from each other by anamount equal to the predetermined value or more. The image signalgeneration device may capture a user surroundings image, using a cameraincluded in the image pick-up unit, in response to the reception of thealarm signal. The image pick-up unit (or a camera unit) may include, asillustrated in FIG. 4, a lens used for image capturing, an image sensor,a serializer/deserializer (SerDes) transmitter (TX) used to transmit acaptured image, and a microcomputer (MICOM), a processor controlling theimage pick-up unit. The image pick-up unit may further capture at leastone of a lateral image and a rear image, as well as a front image, whencapturing the user surroundings image using the camera, and may includeaudio, audio information, other than a video image, visual information,when capturing the above images.

Further, the image signal generation device may include the positionmeasurement unit, which may measure a position of the image signalgeneration device's user, using the GPS or BLE, under the control of thecontrol unit.

In more detail, when a device exists, transmitting a beacon usable tomeasure a position in any space or building in which various kinds ofdisaster, including a fire, may occur, the image signal generationdevice may connect to the device to receive the beacon from the device,and may measure the position of the user wearing the image signalgeneration device by transmitting position information thereof to apredetermined external device, based on the received beacon.

Furthermore, the measuring of the position of the user wearing the imagesignal generation device may also be performed by the image signalgeneration device itself using the GPS and the camera.

As described above, as it is possible to measure the position of theuser wearing the image signal generation device, a person in a remotelocation may be able to determine the current position of the userwearing the image signal generation device, as well as help the imagesignal generation device's user to move accurately quickly bytransmitting route information to the image signal generation device ortransmitting and receiving a voice signal through a voice communicationsunit (or the voice signal output unit) included in the image signalgeneration device, as illustrated in FIG. 4.

Meanwhile, the image signal generation device that has performed thesurroundings image capturing or the position measurement may generate animage signal, including the captured image, or user position measurementinformation, including user position information, and may transmit thegenerated image signal and user position measurement information to theexternal device (for example, all devices, such as a PC, a smartphone,or a server, connectable to the image signal generation device throughwired and wireless communications) through the wireless communicationsunit (or a modem unit) of the image signal generation device illustratedin FIGS. 3 and 4. The above transmission may be performed using ashort-range communications module, using a scheme such as Bluetooth® orthe like, or using a wireless Internet module, including an LTE module.

As previously mentioned, according to an exemplary embodiment in thepresent disclosure, when the image signal generation device includes anLTE communications module for transmitting a communications signal to,and receiving a communications signal from, at least one externaldevice, the image signal generation device may be connected to theexternal device (for example, the server or the remote monitoringdevice) in a remote location through the LTE communications module inreal time, and may further transmit a communications signal to, andreceive a communications signal from, the external device through theLTE communications module.

Thus, according to an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure,since the image signal generation device may transmit the communicationssignal to, and receive the communications signal from, the externaldevice in a relatively wider range, compared to the short-rangecommunications module (for example, a Zigbee® or Bluetooth®communications module) that may transmit and receive a communicationssignal only within a predetermined short range, the wearable device,according to an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure, thatreduces restrictions on the transmission and reception range may be veryuseful in an emergency situation, such as a fire or disaster, thatfrequently requires long-range communications.

Further, upon transmitting the communications signal, the image signalgeneration device may directly transmit the communications signal to theexternal device, or may also transmit the communications signal to theexternal device through a relay station within a predetermined radius ofthe user.

Here, the relay station may refer to a small cell for lowpower/short-range communications, for example, a pico cell or a femtocell. Merely, at the scene of a fire, all fixed relay stations, asdescribed above, maybe destroyed by the fire, and thus the relay stationmay include a small device, having mobility, (for example, a relaystation attached to a ladder truck located outside a building in which afire has occurred, or a mobile relay station (a small cell) implementedto be suitable for a firefighter to throw when entering the building toextinguish a fire.

Further, the captured image and the user position measurementinformation may be stored in the memory unit or the memory forperforming a storage function within the image signal generation device,and the transmitting and the storing may be performed simultaneously orindividually.

Moreover, the image signal generation device may further include awireless communications unit (a communications modem) used to transmitthe captured image or the like, and the wireless communications unit maybe detachably attached inside or outside the image signal generationdevice. Further, the wireless communications unit may further include abattery to further reduce power consumption of the image signalgeneration device, and the battery may also be included in the imagesignal generation device.

At this time, the battery may be implemented as a lithium-ion battery,using a liquid electrolyte and having a high level of energy storagedensity, a lithium-ion polymer battery, using a solid- or gel-polymer asan electrolyte and having a light weight, a low level of internalresistance, and heat resistance, as well as a high level of energystorage density, thus achieving a high level of stability, or a lithiumiron phosphate (LiFePO4) battery, having a structure in which phosphorusand oxygen are tightly bonded to prevent oxygen from being generated athigh temperatures, thus being safe from a fire and explosion. However,this is only an example, and the battery may be implemented using allbatteries, having been developed up to date or which will be developedin the future.

Further, the battery may be implemented as an ultra small, ultra slim,or flexible battery, and may be charged using a wireless chargingtechnology using any one of a magnetic induction method and a magneticresonance method.

Here, the magnetic induction method may enable a power source to supplypower to a power destination in a short location using magnetic fieldresonance, and may refer to a method of charging the battery of theimage signal generation device by an amount equal to power consumed,when the image signal generation device and a charger face each other ata predetermined distance. For example, in the case that the charger isinstalled together with the image signal generation device in a place inwhich the image signal generation device is stored, when the imagesignal generation device is stored in the place when not in use, orplaced on the charger, the image signal generation device and thecharger may maintain a predetermined distance therebetween, so that thebattery of the image signal generation device may be charged by anamount equal to an amount of power consumed.

Further, the magnetic resonance method may enable a power source towirelessly supply power to a power destination in a remote locationusing an internal coil, and may be a method capable of supplying powerto a relatively remote distance, compared to the magnetic inductionmethod.

Meanwhile, according to another exemplary embodiment in the presentdisclosure, the image signal generation device may perform or controlthe image capturing, the position measurement, the storing of the imagesignal, including the captured image, and the user position measurementinformation, including the position information, in the memory unit orthe transmitting of the image signal and the user position measurementinformation to the external device, not by the alarm signal receivedfrom the biometric state measurement device, but by the user'sinstruction input through the user input unit.

Further, the biometric state measurement device, according to anexemplary embodiment in the present invention, may be implemented as ahelmet-type wearable device, a glasses-type wearable device, an externalremote controller, a bracelet, or a ring. However, these are onlyexamples, and the biometric state measurement device may have any otherform. Moreover, although not illustrated in FIG. 3, the image signalgeneration device may also be manufactured to include all configurationsand operations of a biometric state measurement device to be describedin FIG. 6 below.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a process of connecting a cell phoneto a wearable device generating an image signal according to anexemplary embodiment in the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 5, when an image signal generation device is poweredon to transition from an idle state to an active state, the image signalgeneration device may connect to (or access) other external device (forexample, a biometric state measurement device or a cell phone) totransmit a captured image thereto (S501, S502). For convenience ofexplanation, the external device may be assumed to be a biometric statemeasurement device.

At this time, the connection may also be formed between the image signalgeneration device and the biometric state measurement device in adevice-to-device (D2D) manner or by relay by a base station after arandom access procedure on the base station.

In contrast, when the connection (access) fails, the image signalgeneration device may attempt to connect to the biometric statemeasurement device, according to settings, until the connection issuccessful (S503). When the connection (access) is successful (S504),the image signal generation device may transmit information on the imagesignal generation device and a key value to the biometric statemeasurement device (S505).

At this time, the key value may refer to a unique identification numberof the image signal generation device, and may be previously stored in arelated server. Thus, the biometric state measurement device that hasreceived the key value from the image signal generation device may gothrough a procedure of confirming the key value of the image signalgeneration device through the server, and may connect to (access) theimage signal generation device when the received key value matches thekey value previously stored in the server, so that the image signalgeneration device may transmit the captured image to the biometric statemeasurement device or receive a control command from the biometric statemeasurement device (S506, S507).

When the key value, received from the image signal generation device,does not match the key value previously stored in the server, thebiometric state measurement device may refuse to perform the connection(access), or may interrupt it (S506, S508).

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a biometric state measurementdevice according to an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 6, the biometric state measurement device 200,according to an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure, may beimplemented as the wearable device described above in FIG. 2, andaccordingly, may include the features of the respective componentsmentioned in the description of the wearable device.

The biometric state measurement device 200 may include a biometricsignal measurement unit 601, a wireless communications unit 602, aposition measurement unit 603, a control unit 604, and a manual inputunit 605. Although not illustrated in FIG. 6, the biometric statemeasurement device 200 may further include a frame for wearing thebiometric state measurement device 200 on the body of a user. Further,according to an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure, thebiometric state measurement device 200 may not include the abovecomponents, or may also include another component included in thewearable device described above in FIG. 2.

Meanwhile, the biometric signal measurement unit 601 of the biometricstate measurement device 200 may sense or detect a user biometricsignal, and for this purpose, may generate a sensing signal.

That is, the biometric state measurement device may be worn on the bodyof the user wearing the helmet to measure at least one type of biometricsignal information among user heart rate, user body temperature, userskin condition, user body oxygen amount, user surroundings nitrogenamount, user surroundings carbon monoxide amount, and user surroundingsultraviolet light change.

Here, the user biometric signal may include user heart rate, user bodytemperature, user skin condition, user body oxygen amount, usersurroundings nitrogen amount or user surroundings carbon monoxideamount, and user surroundings ultraviolet light change, and may furtherinclude all of the biometric signals that may be measured by the sensingunit 130, as mentioned above in FIG. 2.

Further, the biometric signal measurement unit may include all of a gyrosensor, an acceleration sensor, a proximity sensor, a pressure sensor, amotion sensor, a fingerprint recognition sensor, an iris recognitionsensor, a heart rate sensor (a heart rate detector sensor), a bodytemperature sensor, a skin condition sensor (a skin temperature sensor),a skin resistance sensor, an ECG sensor, a UV sensor, and a body oxygensensor (an oxygen amount sensor).

For convenience of explanation, it is assumed that the biometric signalmeasurement unit includes, as illustrated in FIG. 7, a heart ratesensor, measuring a user heart rate, an acceleration sensor, measuringwhether the user moves and a moving speed thereof, a body temperaturesensor, measuring a user body temperature, a skin condition sensor,measuring a user skin condition, and a UV sensor, measuring a usersurroundings ultraviolet light change.

Merely, the biometric signal measurement unit, illustrated in FIG. 7,may further include other sensors, such as an oxygen amount sensor,measuring a user body oxygen amount, a nitrogen amount sensor, measuringa nitrogen amount within a predetermined radius of the user, and acarbon monoxide amount sensor, measuring a carbon monoxide amount withina predetermined radius of the user, as mentioned above.

In an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure, the biometricstate measurement device 200 may measure the biometric signal of theuser wearing the biometric state measurement device through thebiometric signal measurement unit.

For example, when the user wearing the biometric state measurementdevice is exposed to the scene of a fire, the body temperature sensor ofthe biometric state measurement device may measure a change in a userbody temperature due to heat generated by the fire, and the heart ratesensor may measure a change in a user heart rate, caused by the fire orthe change in the user body temperature, by determining a change in aresistance value.

Further, when the user has difficulty in breathing due to smokegenerated by the fire, so that the amount of oxygen present in the bodyof the user rapidly changes, the oxygen amount sensor may measure achange in the oxygen amount, and the UV sensor may measure a change inUV light around the user, using the method described above in FIG. 2, soas to detect whether the fire has occurred and the size of the fire.

For another example, when the user wearing the biometric statemeasurement device meets with an accident on a high, freezing mountain,the body temperature of the user may drop rapidly, and the bodytemperature sensor, measuring the user body temperature, may detectwhether the user body temperature is changed with respect to apredetermined reference value and how much the user body temperature ischanged, i.e., variation of the change.

Further, the skin condition measurement sensor included in the biometricstate measurement device may also detect that the skin of the user isfrostbitten due to a rapid drop in the user body temperature.

Meanwhile, the biometric state measurement device 200 may determine auser biometric state using the measured user biometric signal.

In more detail, according to an exemplary embodiment in the presentdisclosure, the biometric state measurement device may receive theexisting biometric state result of the user from the external device,may compare the value, represented by the received existing biometricstate result of the user, to the value, represented by the sensed userbiometric signal, and may determine whether the value, represented bythe sensed user biometric signal, differs from the value, represented bythe received existing biometric state result, by an amount equal to thepredetermined value or more, to determine the user biometric state.

Further, according to an another exemplary embodiment in the presentdisclosure, the biometric state measurement device may compare areference value, preset by the biometric state measurement deviceitself, to the value, represented by the sensed user biometric signal,without using the existing biometric state result received from theexternal device as described above, and may determine whether the presetreference value differs from the value, represented by the sensed userbiometric signal, by an amount equal to the predetermined value or more,to determine the user biometric state.

Here, the determining of the user biometric state may refer to a processof determining whether the user body temperature, the user heart rate,or the user skin condition that may be measured when the user is in anormal state has changed to the extent that user body temperature, theuser heart rate, or the user skin condition reaches a predetermined risklevel, according to changes in a user surroundings environment, and thedetermining of the user biometric state may be performed by the controlunit of the biometric state measurement device.

Further, according to an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure,when the biometric state measurement device includes a plurality ofsensors, the biometric state measurement device may compare a biometricsignal value, measured by at least one of the plurality of sensors, tothe predetermined reference value, and may determine whether themeasured biometric signal value differs from the predetermined referencevalue by an amount equal to the predetermined value or more. Incontrast, when each of the plurality of sensors is previouslyprioritized, the biometric state measurement device may compare abiometric signal value, measured by a particular sensor having a highpriority, of the plurality of sensors, to the predetermined value, andmay determine whether the measured biometric signal value differs fromthe predetermined reference value by an amount equal to thepredetermined value or more.

Meanwhile, the biometric state measurement device that has determinedthe user biometric state may generate an alarm signal, including theuser biometric signal, in the case that the biometric state result hasdetermined that the value, represented by the sensed or measured userbiometric signal, differs from the value, represented by the existingbiometric state result received from the external device, or thepredetermined reference value, by an amount equal to the predeterminedvalue or more, upon comparing the value, represented by the sensed ormeasured user biometric signal, to the value, represented by theexisting biometric state result received from the external device, orthe predetermined reference value.

The biometric state measurement device may transmit the generated alarmsignal to the external device (for example, all devices connectable tothe biometric state measurement device, such as a PC, a smartphone, or aserver) through the wireless communications unit (or the communicationsmodem). At this time, the transmitting may be performed using theshort-range communications module or the wireless Internet module,particularly, a BLE module included in the biometric state measurementdevice.

Further, the biometric state measurement device may include the positionmeasurement unit, which may measure a position of the biometric statemeasurement device's user using the GPS or BLE under the control of thecontrol unit, and which may transmit the position measurement result tothe external device through the wireless communications unit. Theposition measurement unit may perform the same function as the positionmeasurement unit of the image signal generation device mentioned abovein FIG. 3.

The alarm signal and the position information including the userbiometric signal that have been transmitted to the external devicethrough the above process may trigger capturing an image andtransmitting the captured image by the image signal generation deviceaccording to an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure, and mayalso be used to monitor or store the captured image and the positioninformation on the external device.

Meanwhile, the sensing of the user biometric signal, the determining ofthe user biometric state, and the transmitting of the alarm signal maybe controlled by the user, or may be remotely controlled by the externaldevice connected to the biometric state measurement device, according toan exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure.

Meanwhile, the biometric state measurement device, according to anexemplary embodiment in the present disclosure, may be implemented asvarious forms such as a wristband-type wearable device or a glasses-typewearable device, an external remote controller, a bracelet, or a ring.However, this is only an example, and the biometric state measurementdevice may have any other form.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method of remotely monitoring abiometric state measurement device and a wearable device generating animage signal according to an exemplary embodiment in the presentdisclosure.

A system, remotely monitoring a physical condition, may include an imagesignal generation device 100, a biometric state measurement device 200,and a server 300. Here, the server 300 may refer to an external deviceor a device, such as a PC or a smartphone, that may be connected to thebiometric state measurement device and the image signal generationdevice through wired and wireless communications.

The system, remotely monitoring a physical condition, will be detailedhereinafter, and descriptions of contents overlapping those describedabove will be omitted.

Meanwhile, the biometric state measurement device 200 may sense ormeasure a user biometric signal by the method mentioned above in FIG. 6(S801). When comparing a value, represented by the user biometricsignal, to a value, represented by an existing biometric state resultreceived from the external device, in the case that the biometric stateresult is determined that the value, represented by the user biometricsignal, differs from the value, represented by the existing biometricstate result received from the external device, or a predeterminedreference value, by an amount equal to the predetermined value or more,the biometric state measurement device 200 may transmit an alarm signalto the image signal generation device 100 and the server 300 (SS802,S803).

The server 300 that has received the alarm signal from the biometricstate measurement device 200 may receive an image signal, including animage captured by the image signal generation device, from the imagesignal generation device, in response to an indication of the sensedbiometric signal (S804, S805).

Further, although not illustrated in FIG. 8, the server 300 may alsoreceive user position measurement information of the image signalgeneration device's user from the image signal generation device.

Meanwhile, according to an exemplary embodiment in the presentdisclosure, the server 300 that has received the image signal maytransmit an image quality control message to the image signal generationdevice (S806), and may receive a captured image, having image quality ofa predetermined standard or higher, from the image signal generationdevice, in response to the image quality control message (S807).

At this time, the image quality control message may refer to a messageinstructing the image signal generation device to interrupt the currentimage capturing thereof and to capture an image, having image quality ofa predetermined standard or higher, from a point in time at which theimage quality control message is received, and according to an exemplaryembodiment in the present disclosure, the image quality control messagemay also include an instruction to adjust the frame rate, in addition tothe instruction to control the image quality.

Further, the predetermined standard may be previously set as any one ofimage resolutions such as SD (D1(720×480), HD (1280×720), and full HD(1920×1080) and any one video codec compression method of MPEG-4, H.264,and H.265. However, this is only an example, and the predeterminedstandard may also be set as a different range of criteria.

Meanwhile, the server 300 that has received the user biometric signaland the image signal from the image signal generation device 100 and thebiometric state measurement device 200 may divide and store the receiveduser biometric signal and image signal by users, and may output the userbiometric signal and the image signal through a display to monitor theuser biometric signal and the image signal.

Further, the server 300 may compile statistics of the user biometricsignal and the image signal, divided and stored by users, according to apreset method, and may output the statistical results through thedisplay. The preset method may include all methods of compilingstatistics of data.

Meanwhile, the server 300 that has received the image signal and theuser position measurement information may transmit a control signal,including a control command, to the user of the biometric statemeasurement device and the image signal generation device, inconsideration of a context based on the received image signal and userposition measurement information, and the control signal may include avoice signal to be transmitted to the user, and the control command forcontrolling the biometric state measurement device and the image signalgeneration device (S808, S809).

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a method of remotely monitoring abiometric state measurement device and a wearable device generating animage signal according to an exemplary embodiment in the presentdisclosure.

Referring to FIG. 9, assuming that a user, wearing a biometric statemeasurement device, is at the scene of a fire, or the like, when theuser is injured by the fire, the biometric state measurement device,according to an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure, maydetect whether a user biometric state is abnormal, may generate an alarmsignal according to the method described above in FIG. 6, and maytransmit the generated alarm signal to an image signal generation deviceand a remote monitoring device, remotely monitoring or managing thecontext.

In response to the alarm signal, the image signal generation device maycapture an image and may transmit the captured image to the remotemonitoring device. Here, the image signal generation device may alsotransmit user position measurement information to the remote monitoringdevice, together with the captured image.

The remote monitoring device that has received the captured image andthe user position measurement information from the image signalgeneration device may display the received captured image and userposition measurement information in real time, and may store the aboveinformation.

Further, when there are a plurality of users of the image signalgeneration device transmitting the captured image and the user positionmeasurement information, the remote monitoring device may divide andstore or display the captured image and the user position measurementinformation by user. Accordingly, a user controlling the remotemonitoring device may transmit a control signal, including a voicesignal and a control command, to the image signal generation device'suser.

Meanwhile, the user's biometric state measurement device and imagesignal generation device, according to an exemplary embodiment in thepresent disclosure, may measure the user position information, and maytransmit the measured user position information to the remote monitoringserver, respectively. Thus, the remote monitoring server that hasreceived the user position information may generate information on aroute along which the user is required to move, and may transmit thegenerated route information to the biometric state measurement deviceand/or the image signal generation device, respectively, so that theuser may move based on the generated route information.

Further, the biometric state measurement device and the image signalgeneration device may compare the measured user position information toa preset user destination route (a route to a destination to which theuser desires to move), and when the user's position and the preset userdestination route do not match each other, each of the biometric statemeasurement device and/or the image signal generation device maygenerate an additional alarm signal and include information fornotifying the user of such a fact in the generated alarm signal, or mayinclude the information in an alarm signal to be transmitted to theremote monitoring server and transmit the alarm signal to the remotemonitoring server.

Further, in contrast, the biometric state measurement device and theimage signal generation device may compare the measured user positioninformation to information on a preset area (a predetermined movingrange within which the user is required to move), and when the user'sposition is outside of the preset area, each of the biometric statemeasurement device and/or the image signal generation device maygenerate an additional alarm signal and include information fornotifying the user of such a fact in the generated alarm signal, or mayinclude the information in an alarm signal to be transmitted to theremote monitoring server and transmit the alarm signal to the remotemonitoring server.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a method of remotely monitoring abiometric state measurement device and a wearable device generating animage signal according to another exemplary embodiment in the presentdisclosure.

Referring to FIG. 10, when a remote monitoring device's user, remotelymonitoring or managing context according to an exemplary embodiment inthe present disclosure, desires to confirm surroundings and conditionsof a user of an image signal generation device and a biometric statemeasurement device connected to the remote monitoring device, the remotemonitoring device's user may transmit a control signal, requesting imageinformation and biometric state information, to the image signalgeneration device and the biometric state measurement device.

At this time, when there are a plurality of users of the image signalgeneration device and the biometric state measurement device connectedto the remote monitoring device, the control signal may be selectivelytransmitted only to any one of the image signal generation device andthe biometric state measurement device, or may also be transmitted toall of the image signal generation device and the biometric statemeasurement device.

Accordingly, the image signal generation device and the biometric statemeasurement device that have received the control signal may capture auser surroundings image, generate user position measurement information,and measure a user biometric state, by the methods described above inFIGS. 3 through 8, and the image signal generation device and thebiometric state measurement device may transmit the results to theremote monitoring device.

Accordingly, the user controlling the remote monitoring device maytransmit the control signal, including a voice signal and a controlcommand, to the image signal generation device' s user, based on thereceived captured image, user position measurement information, and userbiometric state measurement information.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a method of remotely monitoring abiometric state measurement device and a wearable device generating animage signal according to another exemplary embodiment in the presentdisclosure.

Referring to FIG. 11, according to an exemplary embodiment in thepresent disclosure, when a user of an image signal generation device andthe biometric state measurement device desires to request a connectionto a remote monitoring device's user, monitoring or managing context ina remote place, the user of the image signal generation device and thebiometric state measurement device may input the above request througheach user input unit of the image signal generation device and thebiometric state measurement device. In this case, the user of the imagesignal generation device and the biometric state measurement device maycall the remote monitoring device's user according to the above request.

In more detail, each of the image signal generation device and thebiometric state measurement device may further include the user inputunit, enabling the user to enter a control command, and may capture auser surroundings image and measure a position of the user, in responseto the user's control command entered through the user input unit. Inaddition, each of the image signal generation device and the biometricstate measurement device may perform at least one of storing the usersurroundings image signal and the user position measurement informationin a memory, and transmitting the user surroundings image signal and theuser position measurement information to at least one external device.

Meanwhile, the user of the remote monitoring device that has receivedthe request from the user of the image signal generation device and thebiometric state measurement device may reply to the request, and whenthe remote monitoring device's user returns a connection acceptanceresponse, a connection may be formed between the image signal generationdevice and/or the biometric state measurement device and the remotemonitoring device.

At this time, when there are a plurality of users of image signalgeneration devices and biometric state measurement devices, there may bemultiple requests, and when the remote monitoring device's user returnsa connection acceptance response to all of the multiple requests, aconnection may also be formed between the image signal generation deviceand/or the respective biometric state measurement devices and therespective remote monitoring devices.

Thereafter, the remote monitoring device's user may receive the capturedimage, the user position measurement information, or the liketransmitted from the image signal generation device and the biometricstate measurement device connected thereto, may confirm the receivedcaptured image, user position measurement information, or the like inreal time in a remote place, and may transmit a control signal,including a voice signal and a control command, to the user of the imagesignal generation device and the biometric state measurement device,through a wireless communications network, based on the captured image,the user position measurement information, and the user biometric statemeasurement information.

In case of the implementation by firmware or software, one exemplaryembodiment in the present disclosure may be implemented by modules,procedures, and/or functions for performing the above-describedfunctions or operations.

Further, in the case of the implementation by hardware, one exemplaryembodiment in the present disclosure may be implemented by one ofapplication-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signalprocessors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs),programmable logic devices (PLDs), field-programmable gate arrays(FPGAs), and the like installed in the control unit of the respectivedevices.

Meanwhile, the aforementioned method can be written as computer programsand can be implemented in general-use digital computers that execute theprograms using a computer-readable recording medium. Further, a datastructure used for the aforementioned method can be recorded by variousmeans in a computer-readable media. Program storage devices usable forexplaining a storage device, which includes an executable computer codeconfigured to perform various methods of the present disclosure, shouldnot be understood as a device including such temporary objects ascarrier waves and signals. The computer-readable media includes such astorage media such as a magnetic storage media (e.g., a read only memory(ROM), a floppy disk, a hard disk, and the like) and an optical readingmedia (e.g., a compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM), a digitalversatile disc (DVD), and the like).

It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made therein without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the invention. The disclosed embodiments shouldbe considered in a descriptive sense only and not for purposes oflimitation. Thus, it is intended that the present disclosure covers themodifications and variations of this invention that come within thescope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

1. A wearable device generating a user surroundings image signal in awireless communications system, the wearable device comprising: a frameunit worn on a body of a user; an image pick-up unit capturing a usersurroundings image; a battery unit supplying power to the wearabledevice; a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) communications module embedded inthe wearable device, and directly connected to at least one externaldevice to transmit and receive a communications signal; a voice signalinput/output unit receiving a voice signal, to be transmitted to the atleast one external device, from the user, or outputting a voice signal,received from the at least one external device, to the user; and acontrol unit controlling the image pick-up unit such that the imagepick-up unit captures the user surroundings image in response to a firstcommand received from a biometric state measurement device, the controlunit controlling generating of a user surroundings image signalincluding the captured user surroundings image and transmitting of thegenerated user surroundings image signal to the at least one externaldevice through the LTE communications module, wherein, when a value,represented by user biometric signal information measured by thebiometric state measurement device, differs from a predeterminedreference value by an amount equal to the predetermined value or more,the first command is transmitted from the biometric state measurementdevice.
 2. The wearable device of claim 1, wherein the frame unit is ahelmet wearable on the head of the user.
 3. The wearable device of claim2, wherein the biometric state measurement device is worn on the body ofthe user wearing the helmet to measure at least one type of biometricsignal information among user heart rate, user body temperature, userskin condition, user body oxygen amount, user surroundings nitrogenamount, user surroundings carbon monoxide amount, and user surroundingsultraviolet light change.
 4. The wearable device of claim 1, wherein thetransmitting a signal to the at least one external device includesdirectly transmitting a signal to the at least one external devicethrough the LTE communications module, or transmitting a signal to theat least one external device through a relay station within apredetermined radius of the user.
 5. The wearable device of claim 3,wherein the first command includes the user biometric signal informationmeasured by the biometric state measurement device, and when the value,represented by the measured user biometric signal information, differsfrom the predetermined reference value by an amount equal to thepredetermined value or more, the first command is transmitted from thebiometric state measurement device to the wearable device and the atleast one external device, respectively.
 6. The wearable device of claim3, wherein the first command includes the user biometric signalinformation measured by the biometric state measurement device, and thefirst command receives existing biometric signal result information ofthe user from the at least one external device, compares a value,represented by the received existing biometric signal result informationof the user, with the value, represented by the measured user biometricsignal information, and when the value, represented by the measured userbiometric signal information, differs from the value, represented by thereceived existing biometric signal result information, by an amountequal to the predetermined value or more, is transmitted from thebiometric state measurement device to the wearable device and the atleast one external device, respectively.
 7. The wearable device of claim1, wherein the battery unit includes any one of a lithium-ion battery, alithium-ion polymer battery, or a lithium iron phosphate (LiFePo4)battery.
 8. The wearable device of claim 1, further comprising aposition measurement unit performing position measurement using globalpositioning system (GPS) or Bluetooth® low energy (BLE), wherein thecontrol unit controls the position measurement unit such that theposition measurement unit measures a position of the user so as togenerate user position measurement information.
 9. The wearable deviceof claim 8, further comprising a memory unit storing the generated usersurroundings image signal and the generated user position measurementinformation, wherein the control unit controls storing the usersurroundings image signal and the user position measurement informationin the memory unit, or transmitting the user surroundings image signaland the user position measurement information to the at least oneexternal device.
 10. The wearable device of claim 9, further comprisinga user input unit enabling the user to enter a control command, whereinthe control unit controls, in response to a second command enteredthrough the user input unit, at least one of capturing a usersurroundings image by the image pick-up unit, measuring a position ofthe user by the position measurement unit, storing the user surroundingsimage signal and the user position measurement information in the memoryunit, and transmitting the user surroundings image signal and the userposition measurement information to the at least one external device.11. A device for measuring a user biometric signal in a wirelesscommunications system, the device comprising: a frame unit worn on thebody of a user; a biometric signal measurement unit sensing a userbiometric signal; an LTE communications module embedded in the device,and directly connected to at least one external device to transmit andreceive a communications signal; and a control unit determining a userbiometric state by determining whether a value, represented by thesensed user biometric signal, differs from a predetermined referencevalue by an amount equal to the predetermined value or more, wherein,when a biometric state result is determined as the value, represented bythe sensed user biometric signal, differing from the predeterminedreference value by an amount equal to the predetermined value or more,the control unit controls generating an alarm signal including thesensed user biometric signal and transmitting the generated alarm signalto a remote monitoring server through the LTE communications module, andthe control unit transmits the generated alarm signal to an image signalgeneration device, wherein the alarm signal, transmitted to the imagesignal generation device, further includes image capturing instructioninformation for instructing the image signal generation device tocapture a user surroundings image.
 12. A system for remotely monitoringa physical condition using a wireless communications network, the systemcomprising: an image signal generation device; a biometric signalmeasurement device; and a remote monitoring server, wherein, when as asensing result of a user biometric signal, a biometric state result isdetermined as a value, represented by the sensed user biometric signal,differing from a predetermined reference value by an amount equal to thepredetermined value or more, the biometric signal measurement devicegenerates an alarm signal including the sensed user biometric signal andtransmits the generated alarm signal to the remote monitoring server andthe image signal generation device through an LTE communications moduleincluded in the biometric signal measurement device, wherein the alarmsignal, transmitted to the image signal generation device, furtherincludes image capturing instruction information for instructing theimage signal generation device to capture a user surroundings image, andwherein the remote monitoring server is directly connected to the LTEcommunications module included in the biometric signal measurementdevice to receive the alarm signal including the user biometric signal,is directly connected to an LTE communications module included in theimage signal generation device to receive an image signal including animage captured by the image signal generation device, and performs atleast one of outputting the received captured image through a displayunit or storing the received captured image in a memory.
 13. The systemof claim 12, wherein the remote monitoring server is any one of apersonal computer (PC) or a user equipment (UE).
 14. The system of claim12, wherein the remote monitoring server transmits, to the image signalgeneration device, an image quality control message for instructing theimage signal generation device to capture an image having image qualityof a predetermined standard or higher, and in response to the imagequality control message, receives, from the image signal generationdevice, a captured image having the image quality of the predeterminedstandard or higher.
 15. The system of claim 12, wherein the remotemonitoring server remotely connects to the biometric signal measurementdevice and the image signal generation device through the wirelesscommunications network to control operations of the biometric signalmeasurement device and the image signal generation device.
 16. Thesystem of claim 12, wherein the remote monitoring server divides andstores, by users, the biometric signal, received from the biometricsignal measurement device, and the captured image, received from theimage signal generation device, and outputs the divided and storedbiometric signal and captured image through a display according toprevious division methods.
 17. The system of claim 12, wherein thebiometric signal measurement device and the image signal generationdevice are wearable devices able to measure a position of a user using acamera, GPS, and BLE, and the biometric signal measurement device andthe image signal generation device transmit the measured user positioninformation to the remote monitoring server, and receives, from theremote monitoring server, information on a route along which the user isrequired to move, based on the measured user position information. 18.The system of claim 14, wherein, when receiving the image qualitycontrol message for instructing the image signal generation device tocapture the image having the image quality of the predetermined standardor higher, the image signal generation device captures an image, basedon the image quality control message.
 19. The system of claim 12,wherein, when a sensor included in the biometric signal measurementdevice includes a plurality of sensors, the system may compare abiometric signal value, measured by at least one of the plurality ofsensors, with the predetermined reference value, so as to determinewhether the measured biometric signal value differs from thepredetermined reference value by an amount equal to the predeterminedvalue or more.